1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation device that performs route guidance using a map.
2. Related Art
As a method of route guidance in a navigation device, a technique is broadly applied which accepts the setting of a destination by a user, searches for a route from a current location to the destination to set it as a recommended route, and displays, as illustrated in FIG. 12(a), a recommended route graphic 1202 representing the recommended route on a map 1201 with a range covering the current location along with a current location mark 1203 that represents the current location on the map 1201 (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-170703).
As another method of route guidance in a navigation device, a technique is well known which displays, when approaching an intersection, a map with a surrounding area of the intersection expanded, and displays on the map an arrow indicating a travel direction at the intersection along the recommended route (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-83761), and a technique is also well known which provides the travel direction at the intersection by voice (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-10495).
As illustrated with arrows in FIG. 12(b), if a route is set which passes an intersection 1211 twice in different directions as a recommended route, when the current location is just before the intersection 1211, the recommended route graphic 1202 representing the recommended route may be displayed on the map 1201 as if the recommended route were divided into three directions illustrated by the arrows in the drawing near the recommended route graphic 1202, as shown in FIG. 12(c) and FIG. 12(d). In this case, the user will have trouble understanding which direction the user should take at the intersection 1211 on the basis of the recommended route graphic 1202. Here, FIG. 12(c) shows the map at a relatively small scale, and FIG. 12(d) shows the map at a relatively large scale.